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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add... (More)

About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in addition to writing editorials for more than 15 years. I have served as a director of many non-profits in the Valley and the broader Bay Area and currently serve as chair of Teen Esteem and on the advisory board of Shepherd?s Gate. I also served as founding chair of Heart for Africa and have travelled to Africa seven times to serve on mission trips. My wife, Betty Gail, has taught at Amador Valley High (from where we both graduated) since 1981. She and I both graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, as did both of my parents and my three siblings. Given that Cal tradition, our daughter went south to the University of Southern California and graduated with a degree in international relations. Since graduation, she has taken three mission trips and will be serving in the Philippines for nine months starting in September. (Hide)

Gold-plating Stanley Boulevard

Uploaded: Apr 24, 2012

The Stanley Boulevard upgrade demonstrates what happens when some government agencies simply have too much money.
Surprisingly, there's no federal stimulus funding in the $14.5 million project that is due to be completed in the fall. The road is being repaved and the decades-old bike path already has been greatly upgraded.
The funding sources were local streets and roads money from the county half-cent sales tax and the bridge tolls plus grants from the Bay Area air board and the Alameda County StopWaste organization (the poster child for grossly over-funded government agencies).
Incidentally, Pleasanton is among the government agencies that have bought in to the transportation agency's plan to double the tax to 1 cent and make it permanent.
There's an argument for increasing the tax to increase the transportation improvements, but, in Alameda County, that means lots of money down the transit agency operating fund rat holes such as AC Transit. To spread the money around the county and develop a plan that can get widespread support (it takes a two-thirds majority to pass) results in operating subsidies.
Of course, the Livermore Valley deserves and needs more money when you consider that it is the goods movement corridor along I-580 for much of the Bay Area (that's government speak for 18-wheelers carrying containers as well as the distribution tractor-trailers serving Bay Area retailers).
It's critical to the Port of Oakland as well as the retailers stocking many Bay Area locations (Safeway as well as other retailers, have major distribution facilities in Tracy).
Yet, it's taken way too many bites at the ballot box for I-580 to be expandedit should have been the top county priority for years given its economic importance.
Turning back to Stanley Boulevard, it's a positive that so many agencies partnered on a projectthat's unusual for government where the tendency of bureaucrats and politicians is to put funds in tightly regulated pots.
The air board contributed money for the heavily landscaped bicycle lane upgradea project that done to a basic level makes sense.
Pulling recycled water lines from Isabel Avenue/Highway 84 makes good use of a resource for a questionable purposeto landscape a highway as if it's a prime entry to a community. With the benches, state-of-the-art lighting, the county will have an elegant, expensive roadway coupled with a bike and pedestrian path.
You might ask why the trash board has expanded its reach to include Bay-friendly storm drainsit's a symptom of how much money is in that agency.
I have no debate with improving the road as well as removing the unused railroad tracks that banged automobile suspensions and were a hazard to bicyclists.
A big portion of the expense, that has yet to finished, is putting all of the utilities underground. That certainly will help radio signals along westbound Stanley, although to neighborhoods that still have overhead power lines, will seem like a questionable priority.
This is a classic case of when a compact Chevy will suffice, the agencies instead collaborated to produce a Cadillac limo.

Posted by Casanova_Frankenstein,
a resident of Old Towne,
on Apr 24, 2012 at 4:24 pmCasanova_Frankenstein is a registered user.

It is I, Casanova Frankenstein!

Tim raises some good questions here: if the upgrade is a good example of "what happens when some government agencies simply have too much money," then why is it later described as "critical" to this area, "a positive," and something "the Livermore valley deserves?" Tim, my amigo, once again you've given us all something to think about. Also, thanks for locking off the comments so no weirdos or riff-raff can post silly things here.